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Item Perceptions of warmth and competence conveyed by hard sell and soft sell voices: A cross-cultural study(Journal Article, Taylor and Francis Group, 2025) Desmarais, Fabrice; Vignolles, Alexandra; Mukherjee, AbhishekWe assess the reactions of Generation Z consumers to hard and soft sell vocal styles in two countries (France and New Zealand) to understand whether the association of warmth and competence personality traits differs across countries. Results reveal commonalities and differences that advertisers should take into consideration when designing advertising vocal strategies. In both countries, the soft sell vocal style conveyed significantly more warmth than the hard sell style. Our study also reveals differences between countries with French participants having a clear preference for soft sell voices, which they rated very high in both warmth and competence, whereas participants from New Zealand found the hard sell voices significantly more competent than French participants did.Item The influence of maritime freight cost tail risk on publicly traded transport companies(Report, 2025) Akyildirim, E; Corbet, S; Ryan, Michael; Mukherjee, AbhishekThis study examines the influence of maritime freight cost tail risk events on transportation-related stock market prices. Our findings reveal a significant asymmetry: extreme negative movements in these indices have a disproportionately large adverse impact on stock returns compared to extreme positive movements. As these indices serve as barometers of global economic health, sharp declines signal contractions in global demand, fuelling investor apprehension. These concerns outweigh the potential benefits of lower input costs for most firms. We also uncover substantial heterogeneity amongst stock responses. Notably, owing to their perceived higher risk, smaller firms and those with ESG controversies are more severely impacted by these negative tail-risk events. Further, we also find that strong ESG commitments are sometimes beneficial during negative tail risk events, but not always. We attribute the observed detrimental effects of strong ESG commitments to heightened investor concern about the additional operational costs and regulatory compliance required to meet these commitments during challenging market conditions. Our results suggest companies take proactive steps to address investor concerns about the cost of ESG commitments. By doing so, companies can ensure that their pursuit of sustainability and responsibility does not conflict with their financial objectives and market resilience.Item Māori data sovereignty and privacy(Report, Te Ngira Institute for Population Research, 2023) Kukutai, Tahu; Cassim, Shemana; Clark, Vanessa; Jones, Nicholas; Mika, Jason; Morar, Rhianna; Muru-Lanning, Marama; Pouwhare, Robert; Teague, Vanessa; Tuffery Huria, Lynell; Watts, David; Sterling, RogenaPrivacy is a fundamental human right. One of its most important aspects is information privacy – providing individuals with control over the way in which their personal data is collected, used, disclosed and otherwise handled. Existing information privacy regulation neither recognises nor protects the collective privacy rights of Indigenous peoples. This paper explores Indigenous data privacy, and the challenges and opportunities, in the context of Aotearoa. It has two aims: to identify gaps in existing data privacy approaches with regards to Indigenous data, and to provide a foundation for progressing alternative privacy paradigms. We argue that while personal data protection is necessary, it is insufficient to meet the needs of Māori and Aotearoa more broadly. In so doing, we draw on three areas of research: Indigenous and Māori data sovereignty; data and information privacy, including collective privacy; and Māori and Indigenous privacy perspectives. We examine key features of the Aotearoa privacy context – including the Privacy Act 2020 (NZ) – and consider the implications of te Tiriti o Waitangi and tikanga Māori for alternative privacy approaches. Future options, including legal and extra-legal measures, are proposed.Item Financing green innovation startups: a systematic literature review on early-stage SME funding(Journal Article, Taylor & Francis, 2024) Mukherjee, Abhishek; Owen, Robyn; Scott, Jonathan M.; Lyon, FergusThis paper investigates the critical issue of financing early-stage green startups, examining the types of investors and finance models available, the challenges these startups face, and how the green finance ecosystem can better support early-stage investment. Utilizing a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the current landscape. Our findings reveal a significant paucity of data and a bias towards well-established North American and European ecosystems, while highlighting an emerging diversity in private finance sources post-Global financial crisis (GFC), including grants, equity, and crowdfunding. Despite this, there remains a heavy reliance on public funding and a lack of evidence regarding its impact. The inherent characteristics of cleantech–high capital expenditure, long investment horizons, and disruptive nature–necessitate innovative public financing instruments and policies to reduce risk and attract private investment. Our theoretical contribution highlights the necessity for interdisciplinary research and policy collaboration to develop a holistic entrepreneurial finance (entfin) ecosystem. This approach should integrate quantitative economic and qualitative behavioural finance research to address information asymmetries and improve the green economy policy mix. Such a framework will support public-private co-financing, enhance stakeholder engagement, and provide evidence for policy decisions, facilitating more rapid commercialization of cleantech innovations for environmental sustainability.Publication News of domestic violence: Journalistic imperatives in television news reporting of domestic violence(Conference Contribution, 2021-05) Schott, Gareth R.; Weaver, C. Kay; Nasir, Omer BinIn 2018, a nationwide study of Pakistan (with a population of 207.7 million) found that at least 28 percent of women have experienced physical, sexual and/or emotional violence in domestic settings. With a posited high number of unreported incidents, domestic violence in Pakistan is considered prevalent in all social spheres. News coverage of domestic violence plays a central role in communicating the nature and extent of this major social problem and influencing understanding of its causes and consequences. Yet, in Pakistan, changing attitudes toward domestic violence is compounded by the presentation of crime news stories throug entertainment orientated rather than ‘solution-driven’ journalism (Khan et al., 2016). This research set out to form a better understanding of Pakistani television news journalists’ knowledge and understanding of domestic violence to gain insight into the way news channel currently address this social problem. The paper reports on interviews conducted with Pakistani news journalists (n = 11). All journalists identified physical abuse as a form of domestic violence while only half included emotional abuse in its scope. The issue of sexual abuse within a marriage was considered contentious and complicated topic especially in terms of whether it should be given news coverage. While domestic violence was conceptualized as a problem resulting from and maintained by Pakistan’s patriarchal social structures, in news reporting it was largely represented as incident based and minimal resources are set aside for its coverage.Publication How is the circular economy emerging in Aotearoa New Zealand? Research Brief(Report, University of Waikato, 2022) Diprose, G; Walton, Sara; Greenway, A; Collins, Eva MarieThe results of the environmental scan show that there is grass-roots activity and that we have some high level conceptualisations of circular economies (CE) however there is little in-between. As such, it is in the middle that activity needs to occur to transition towards a circular economy. We see a need to move beyond business-as-usual with an entity focus to an ‘ecosystem phase.’ This means that for CE, partnerships are needed across business, organisations, Treaty partners, institutions, NGOs and stakeholders to form collaborations around material and people flows in order for ecosystems to form and create circular economies.Publication How is the circular economy emerging in Aotearoa New Zealand? Infographic(Report, University of Waikato, 2022) Diprose, G; Walton, Sara; Greenaway, A; Collins, Eva MariePublication The development of uncertainty in national and subnational population projections: A New Zealand perspective(Chapter in Book, Springer, 2021) Cameron, Michael Patrick; Dunstan, Kim; Cook, LenProjections or forecasts of future population, and the age and sex structure of the population, are key inputs to decision-making. However, these projections have an associated uncertainty that is often underappreciated by decision-makers. Moreover, a decision-maker faced with multiple population projections has no clear basis on which to decide between alternative projections. In this chapter, we outline the sources of uncertainty in population projections. We then describe the development of population projection methods in New Zealand, where the representation of uncertainty has become central to official projections produced by Statistics New Zealand, as well as alternative projections produced by the National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis. Finally, we outline a model-averaging approach that can be used by decision-makers to combine the information from multiple independent population projections. This may provide a more accurate approach to the use of population projections in decision-making, without requiring substantial modelling capability. This approach is illustrated with the example of subnational areas for the Waikato Region of New Zealand.Publication Perceptions of hard sell and soft sell vocal styles across countries: Lessons from France and New Zealand(Journal Article, Taylor & Francis, 2024) Desmarais, Fabrice; Vignolles, Alexandra; Mukherjee, AbhishekThis study explores soft sell and hard sell vocal appeals across two different countries, France and New Zealand. We use quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze consumers’ familiarity with, and attitudes towards, hard sell (fast, loud, high to mid pitch, upbeat voice conveying energy and enthusiasm) and soft sell (slow, soft, low to mid pitch voice conveying warmth and allure) vocal advertising messages. Our results indicate that consumers’ vocal preference depend on their previous experiences and culture, thus global marketers should take into consideration cultural idiosyncrasies when designing advertising vocal strategies.Publication Bitcoin forks: What drives the branches?(Journal Article, Elsevier BV, 2024) Conlon, Thomas; Corbet, Shaen; Hou, Yang (Greg); Hu, Yang; Oxley, LesDespite frequent Blockchain splits stemming from Bitcoin, few studies have examined the determinants of Bitcoin fork returns. In this paper, we investigate the relationships between the returns of Bitcoin forks and a range of common risk factors, including Bitcoin, currency, network and equity-based factors. From a statistical perspective, we find consistent and significant associations between fork returns, their Bitcoin counterparts, and equity markets. Other common factors, such as the equity small-minus-big factor and changes in the Japanese Yen, are found to have occasional links with fork returns. From an economic perspective, Bitcoin returns are the predominant driver of fork returns, accounting for essentially all of the explained variation. These findings are confirmed using orthogonalised common factors and with an alternative methodology, quantile regression. This research broadens our understanding of Bitcoin forks, indicating that a change in blockchain protocol is insufficient to sever links with the Bitcoin parent.Publication Time varying risk aversion and its connectedness: Evidence from cryptocurrencies(Journal Article, Springer, 2024) Corbet, Shaen; Hou, Yang (Greg); Hu, Yang; Oxley, LesChanging patterns of risk aversion may follow a non-linear counter-cyclical process. However, the evidence so far has not considered developing cryptocurrency markets. Given some unique features of cryptocurrencies, it is interesting to distinguish how these assets differ from traditional products. This paper investigates the time effects of periodicity on risk aversion for a selection of major cryptocurrencies compared to major financial assets. Significant periodic time-varying patterns are identified when analysing risk aversion. Further, bilateral and bidirectional Granger causalities are identified within cryptocurrencies, as well as between cryptocurrencies and traditional financial assets. Bitcoin is identified as a leading information transmitter of the spillover of risk aversion upon other cryptocurrencies, while estimated risk aversion of traditional financial markets plays a dominant role in the spillover processes upon the cryptocurrency cluster. The latter finding presents further evidence of developing cryptocurrency market maturity. The COVID-19 pandemic is found to have significantly influenced the connectedness of risk aversion among cryptocurrency and traditional financial markets.Publication Did COVID-19 tourism sector supports alleviate investor fear?(Journal Article, Elsevier BV, 2022) Corbet, Shaen; Hou, Yang (Greg); Hu, Yang; Oxley, LesThe COVID-19 pandemic presented a dynamic black-swan event to which governments implemented support programmes to reduce sectoral probability of default. This research analyses investor response to such assistance, designed to mitigate the effects of the pandemic upon international aviation and tourism. Investor confidence in such support schemes is estimated through short-term abnormal returns. Results indicate significant differential behaviour, with fiscal policy found to be a dominant and largely effective mechanism generating median abnormal returns of 2.17 %. Specific assistance programmes relating to COVID-19 loan facilities, and the provision of pandemic relief packages significantly alleviated short-term investor concerns with median abnormal returns estimated between 2.87 % and 3.89 % respectively. Our empirical results offer investors and policymakers an additional layer of information.Publication Towards environmental degradation mitigation: The role of regulatory quality, technological innovation and government effectiveness in the CEMAC countries(Journal Article, CellPress, 2023) Khan, Adnan; Sampene, AK; Ali, SThe study explores the interaction between regulatory quality, economic growth, technological innovation, energy consumption, government spending on research and development, and environmental degradation (EVD) in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) region. The study applied the econometric approach CS-ARDL to estimate the short and long-term interaction between the regressors and the explanatory variable. The study period covers from 1990 to 2020. To summarize the findings of this research, (1) the study discovered a positive relationship between energy consumption, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, and environmental degradation. (2) Economic growth, government spending on research and development, and technological innovation, on the other hand, extensively dissipates EVD in the CEMAC economies. (3) The causality analysis espoused a bidirectional connection between energy consumption, technological innovation, and EVD. (4) Lastly, a unidirectional interplay exists between economic growth, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, and EVD. This study also serves as a reference point for policymakers and governmental institutions to invest in cleaner technologies and increase government research and development spending to mitigate environmental degradation in these areas.Publication Te Nahi o Te Taniwha: Teeth of the Taniwha(Report, Ngã Pae o te Mãramatanga, 2022) Rout, Matthew; Spiller, Chellie; Reid, John; Mika, Jason; Haar, JarrodThis report outlines the scope of the project He oranga whānau: mahi ngātahi Whānau livelihoods within the context of work and Māori economies of wellbeing, which has been funded by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga—the New Zealand Māori Centre of Research Excellence. Its purpose is to set the direction and design for the research project. To say the creation of such economies will be a complex task is an understatement. Three factors make this task a ‘wicked problem’.Publication Entrepreneurial Disappointment: Let Down and Breaking Down, a Machine-Learning Study(Journal Article, SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2020-10-23) Williamson, Amanda Jasmine; Drencheva, Andreana; Battisti, MartinaDespite its importance, our understanding of what entrepreneurial disappointment is, its attributions, and how it relates to depression is limited. Drawing on a corpus of 27,906 semi-anonymous online posts, we identified entrepreneurial disappointment, inductively uncovered its attributions and examined how depression differs between attributions. We found that posts with internal, stable, and global disappointment attributions (e.g., not fitting entrepreneurial norms) are, on average, higher in depression symptoms than posts with external, unstable, and specific disappointment attributions (e.g., firm performance). Our findings offer novel theoretical and methodological avenues for future research on entrepreneurs’ affective experiences and mental health.Publication Tax avoidance and firm risk: evidence from China(Journal Article, WILEY, 2021-03-03) Cao, Yaowen; Feng, Zhuoan; Lu, Meiting; Shan, YuqiangPrior literature (e.g., Guenther et al., 2017) documents puzzling evidence revealing that tax avoidance activities do not affect firm-specific risk. Using an extended US sample, we find that lower cash effective tax rates (ETRs) are associated with higher future return volatility, supporting the traditional view of tax risk-return trade-off. In sharp contrast to the US evidence, our analysis of Chinese firms suggests that Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) with lower cash and GAAP ETRs tend to have lower future risk. In addition, we adopt a difference-in-differences approach based on the variations generated by two exogenous, antitax avoidance regulations in China but find no evidence suggesting a causal relationship between tax avoidance and firm risk. Overall, our results suggest that the relationship between tax avoidance and risk varies across countries, sample periods and tax aggressiveness measures, and we highlight the importance of addressing the endogenous nature in future research.Publication Local FinTech development and stock price crash risk(Journal Article, Elsevier BV, 2023-05) Wang, Xinyue; Cao, Yuqiang; Feng, Zhuoan; Lu, Meiting; Shan, YaowenThis study investigates the effect of financial technology (FinTech) development on stock price crash risk. We show that the development of FinTech can inhibit management from deliberately hiding bad news and alleviate information asymmetry, thereby reducing stock price crash risk. This effect is more pronounced among non-state-owned enterprises, firms with poor information environments and low-quality internal controls, and those in competitive industries and regions with high marketization. Overall, these findings suggest that FinTech development can mitigate the deliberate concealment of bad news by management and improve the timeliness of disclosure, leading to lower risks faced by investors.Publication Capturing passion expressed in text with artificial intelligence (AI): Affective passion waned, and identity centrality was sustained in social ventures(Journal Article, Elsevier BV, 2021-11) Williamson, Amanda Jasmine; Battisti, Martina; Pollack, Jeffrey M.Entrepreneurial passion can influence individual well-being and improve firm-level outcomes, yet little is known about how to rapidly detect a change in passion from entrepreneurs’ communication. We draw on advancements in both the passion literature and artificial intelligence (AI) methods, to capture entrepreneurial passion expressed for founding a venture at different points in time. Specifically, we developed an AI algorithm to recognize identity-based passion (identity centrality) from training data, comprised of eight hours of transcribed interviews with entrepreneurs (achieving 84% accuracy), and detect affective passion (intense positive feelings) with sentiment analysis. Application of these two novel measurement approaches, to longitudinal interview text with early-stage entrepreneurs (N=11, two time periods) in a six-month social venture accelerator, indicate that intense positive feelings decline while identity centrality varies. We conclude by outlining opportunities for future research.Publication Do high-quality auditors improve non-GAAP reporting?(Journal Article, American Accounting Association, 2023-01-01) Feng, Zhuoan; Francis, Jere R.; Shan, Yaowen; Taylor, StephenPrior research finds that clients of high-quality auditors report higher quality GAAP earnings. We extend this research to investigate whether auditor quality is associated with the quality of voluntarily disclosed non-GAAP earnings measures. Using a sample of Australian firms disclosing annual non-GAAP metrics, we find that clients of high-quality auditors are more likely to voluntarily disclose non-GAAP earnings numbers. However, clients of high-quality auditors make adjustments in calculating non-GAAP earnings (non-GAAP exclusions) that are less predictive of future earnings and less value relevant than those of other firms. These results indicate that their adjustments are of higher quality. We also find similar results for US firms using a sample of quarterly non-GAAP earnings disclosures. Overall, our evidence indicates that commonly used indicators of audit quality for GAAP reporting are positively associated with the quality of voluntarily disclosed non-GAAP earnings measures.Publication Social capital and budgeting in a local church(Chapter in Book, Emerald Publishing Limited, 2023-10-24) Sharma, Umesh Prasad; Frost, DeniseThe purpose of this chapter is to examine the budgeting process in a local church from a social capital perspective. The social capital provides novel insights into the construction of budgets and its social aspects. A qualitative case study was adopted, with an interpretive methodology. Semi-structured interviews were used to interview 14 managers involved in the budgeting process at a local independent church. The interview data were supplemented by documentary evidence. Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) framework of social capital was used to analyse the data. The main finding was that budgeting was found to be a social process – that can best be explained by social capital theory. There may be an element of self-selection, as the church agreed to participate in the study and chose to allow a researcher to examine social aspects of its budgeting process. The chapter contributes to both social capital theory and church literature. Social capital provides novel insights into the construction of budgets and its social aspects. In addition, contemporary budgeting practices are studied in a church in a denomination and country not previously studied.